Manual annotations using clustering, anchoring, and transformation

Abstract

Embodiments are disclosed in which a process receives annotation inputs for annotations of a document. The annotation inputs may be grouped together into clusters based at least in part on a functional relationship between the timing of annotation inputs and the paths of the annotation inputs across an electronic display. The annotation inputs may be associated with portions of the document based at least in part on the shape of the paths of the annotation inputs, the sequence of annotation inputs, or the locations of the annotation inputs. Additionally, the paths of the annotation inputs to portions of the document may be modified in response to modifications of the portion of the document data.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A tangible, non-transitory, machine-readable medium, comprising machine-readable instructions that when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to:
 group one or more annotation inputs into one or more clusters by:
 determining a padding area around a respective path for each of the one or more annotation inputs based on a function relating a padding distance and an elapsed time since a lift-off event of the respective annotation input; and 
 grouping each set of the one or more annotation inputs having overlapping padding areas into a respective cluster of the one or more clusters; 
 
 associate each of the one or more clusters with an object of one or more objects of document data; and 
 display annotations on a graphical representation of the one or more objects, wherein each displayed annotation corresponds to a cluster of the one or more clusters. 
 
     
     
       2. The machine-readable medium of  claim 1 , comprising machine-readable instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to adjust the padding distance in response to a user input. 
     
     
       3. The machine-readable medium of  claim 1 , comprising machine-readable instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to associate a first cluster of the one or more clusters with a first anchor location of the graphical representation, wherein the first anchor location corresponds to a first object of the one or more objects within the graphical representation. 
     
     
       4. The machine-readable medium of  claim 3 , comprising machine-readable instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to:
 receive input to move the first object a first distance within the graphical representation; 
 move the first anchor location the first distance within the graphical representation; and 
 move the annotations corresponding to the first cluster with the first anchor location. 
 
     
     
       5. The machine-readable medium of  claim 1 , comprising machine-readable instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to:
 anchor a first cluster of the one or more clusters to a first object of the one or more objects within the graphical representation, wherein the first object comprises a range of text; 
 receive input to add characters or to remove characters within the range of text of the first object; and 
 expand a path of a respective annotation input of the first cluster if the input adds characters within the range of text or contract a path of a respective annotation input of the first cluster if the input removes characters within the range of text. 
 
     
     
       6. A processor-implemented method for processing annotation inputs, comprising:
 receiving annotation inputs, wherein each of the annotation inputs comprises a path defined by a corresponding touch-down event and lift-off event relative to an image shown on a display; 
 determining a padding area around the path for each annotation input, wherein the padding area for each annotation input is based on a function relating a padding distance and an elapsed time since the lift-off event of the respective annotation input; 
 identifying annotation inputs with overlapping padding areas; 
 grouping annotation inputs with overlapping padding areas into a cluster; and 
 displaying, at an associated location relative to an anchor location within the image the cluster as an annotation comprising an aggregated path of each respective annotation input of the cluster. 
 
     
     
       7. The processor-implemented method of  claim 6 , wherein the function comprises a continuous function that inversely relates the padding distance with the elapsed time. 
     
     
       8. The processor-implemented method of  claim 6 , wherein the padding distance is zero pixels when the elapsed time is greater than or equal to a predefined time limit. 
     
     
       9. The processor-implemented method of  claim 6 , comprising anchoring the cluster to an object at the associated location relative to the anchor location within the image, wherein the object comprises an anchor range defined by the path of an identifying annotation input of the annotation inputs grouped into the cluster. 
     
     
       10. The processor-implemented method of  claim 9 , wherein the path of the identifying annotation input comprises an underline, a strikethrough, or an enclosure. 
     
     
       11. The processor-implemented method of  claim 9 , comprising:
 expanding the path of the identifying annotation input of the cluster when characters are added within the anchor range; or 
 contracting the path of the identifying annotation input of the cluster when characters are removed from the anchor range. 
 
     
     
       12. The processor-implemented method of  claim 6 , comprising determining the anchor location based on an average location within the image of the aggregated path of the annotation inputs of the cluster and a body region of the image, wherein the anchor location comprises a location of an object within the body region when the average location is within the body region. 
     
     
       13. A tangible, non-transitory, machine-readable medium, comprising machine-readable instructions that when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to:
 display an image of a document via a display of an electronic device; 
 display first annotations associated with a first portion of the document via the display of the electronic device, wherein the first annotations correspond to a cluster of annotation inputs formed based at least in part on overlapping padding areas around one or more first paths of the annotation inputs, wherein each of the padding areas of the annotation inputs is determined based on a function relating a padding distance and an elapsed time since a lift-off event of a respective annotation input; 
 receive input to:
 move the first portion within the document; 
 expand the first portion of the document; or 
 contract the first portion of the document; 
 
 adjust the first portion of the document based on the received input; and 
 adjust the display of the first annotations for the first portion of the document based at least in part on the received input to modify the first portion of the document, by:
 moving one or more first paths of the first annotations; 
 expanding one or more first paths of the first annotations; 
 contracting one or more first paths of the first annotations; or 
 any combination thereof. 
 
 
     
     
       14. The machine-readable medium of  claim 13 , wherein the first annotations are associated with the first portion of the document based at least in part on:
 a path shape of one or more identifying annotation inputs of the annotation inputs; 
 an earliest annotation input of the annotation inputs; or 
 any combination thereof. 
 
     
     
       15. The machine-readable medium of  claim 13 , comprising machine-readable instructions that when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to:
 receive second annotation inputs; 
 associate the second annotation inputs with a second portion of the document, wherein each annotation input of the second annotation inputs comprises a respective second path; and 
 display second annotations on the display within the second portion of the document, wherein the second annotations correspond to the respective second paths of the second annotation inputs. 
 
     
     
       16. A processor-implemented method for processing annotation inputs, comprising:
 displaying an image of a document via a display of an electronic device; 
 grouping a first group of annotation inputs into a first cluster by:
 determining a padding area around a respective path for each of the annotation inputs based on a function relating a padding distance and an elapsed time since a lift-off event of the respective annotation input; and 
 grouping one or more annotation inputs having overlapping padding areas into the first cluster; 
 
 associating the first group of annotation inputs with a first associated location relative to a first anchor location of the image of the document based at least in part on:
 a path shape of one or more identifying annotation inputs of the first group of annotation inputs; 
 an earliest annotation input of the first group of annotation inputs; 
 an average location within the image of the paths of the annotation inputs of the first group of annotation inputs; or 
 a combination thereof; and 
 
 displaying first annotations for the first group of annotation inputs via the display of the electronic device at the first associated location, wherein the displayed first annotations correspond to the first cluster. 
 
     
     
       17. The processor-implemented method of  claim 16 , comprising:
 associating a second group of annotation inputs to a second anchor location of the image of the document based at least in part on a second location of the second group of annotation inputs, wherein the second location corresponds to an average location of second paths of the second group of annotation inputs that is in a header of the image of the document or a footer of the image of the document; 
 displaying second annotations for the second group of annotation inputs via the display of the electronic device at the second anchor location; 
 receiving input to move one or more objects of the document relative to the second anchor location; and 
 maintaining the second anchor location for the second group of annotation inputs despite the received input to modify the document. 
 
     
     
       18. The machine-readable medium of  claim 1 , wherein the function comprises a continuous function that inversely relates the padding distance with the elapsed time. 
     
     
       19. The machine-readable medium of  claim 13 , wherein the function comprises a continuous function that inversely relates the padding distance with the elapsed time. 
     
     
       20. The processor-implemented method of  claim 16 , wherein the function comprises a continuous function that inversely relates the padding distance with the elapsed time.